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Link Roundup: Some Reactions to the Firing

-P- Via Primer, this fake letter from Bob Nutting to the fans is pretty funny.

-P- This article in the Post-Gazette nicely sums up the Littlefield era, and it comes with lots of new little tidbits and quotes:

This year, Littlefield and Creech bypassed highly touted Georgia Tech catcher Matt Wieters with the No. 4 pick because agent Scott Boras was thought to be seeking a $10 million signing bonus, three times Major League Baseball's recommendation for that slot.

The money was there, but the Pirates' baseball staff told ownership they would prefer Clemson reliever Danny Moskos. He was signed to the slot recommendation -- to the penny -- while Baltimore, which took Wieters at No. 5, called Boras' bluff and brought his bonus down to $6 million.

Yikes.

The North American scouting system as a whole is seen as insufficient, particularly because of a minimal presence in key regions such as Georgia, California and Texas.

"We have one scout for Georgia and the Carolinas, and the Braves have 20," one team executive said. "We're getting killed there, and there's no reason for it."

More yikes. Granted, the Braves emphasize scouting in Georgia more than any other team, but still. Remember, Littlefield's Pirates didn't get anything out of Southern California, either, and that's a hotbed of amateur talent.

One more:

One agent said yesterday, "You never had the feeling that Dave cared about the players, and people in our business knew that. I'm glad to have his number out of my Rolodex."

Great article.

-P- Wait, okay, one more thing from the same article.

Nutting approved [the Matt Morris] deal, but he said yesterday, "I have to trust my baseball people. That was the move Dave wanted to make."

I find this quote odd, since that trade only happened a few weeks ago. So why did Nutting's mind change so dramatically between now and then? Before the Morris deal took place, there was obviously plenty of evidence that Littlefield wasn't getting the job done. Kudos to Nutting for staying out of his GM's way, but why, if he was having doubts about Littlefield's capabilities, would he allow Littlefield to spend $14 million on a player? If Littlefield asked, wouldn't he just say, "No, you know what, Dave, that's enough. You're fired, effective tomorrow"?

I have no clear evidence of this, but I suspect Nutting may have approved of the Morris deal, and is just blaming Littlefield for it now because it turned out to be unpopular.